#which still seemed VERY short

[throwing-roses-into-the-abyss]

nothing quite like sewing to make you realize how small you really are

like I did not expect my hip-to-ankle-length to be less than a meter even though my whole body is only 164. but still!! less than a meter!!! I'm so short!!!!!

[icewindandboringhorror]

........creachure

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[olliesneweyes]

still thinking abt the wreck that is train!andrew's office once he falls asleep at the desk tbh because godd i love imagining messy workaholic offices

conductors also kind of do everything on the train, like they oversee the other train employees, take payments for boarding, check the tickets, make sure passengers are safe and comfortable, etc etc so he is. SO exhausted probably

i think bc to me this andrew is kind of. stoic and polite (he would still melt if you were nice to him i think) he doesn't have many signs other than getting slightly more unkempt and i think his hands shake REALLY bad w sleep deprivation, or he seems like he's focusing on not literally just crinkling to the ground and fifudhf anywaybi really like traindrew

i watched about 22 mins of the first murder on the nord express gameplay vid btw and i'm gonna cry both victor and andrew are so djfjfj

Exactly!!

[hyunubear]

rant time!

kpop reaction content isn't exactly new (at least as far as I know) but it does seem to have kind of boomed in the last... two-three years I think. I remember there being only a handful of relevant kpop reaction content creators on youtube, some more popular that the others, but still there weren't a ton of them around. and I guess it makes sense because kpop itself has gotten much more popular and widely known outside of just [REDACTED] and among a wider age range I'd say.

but nowadays if you look up “X group - Y title track reaction” you will find tens, if not hundreds of reaction videos (especially if its a well known group) ranging from channels with hundreds of thousand subs to small account with a couple of hundred views on their reaction videos. and I just find that so weird.

like... especially for channels that do reactions as their main (and only) content, I find it extremely difficult to believe that after a certain point there is any authenticity behind these reactions. these big reaction channels are out there reacting to damn near every relevant kpop group's comebacks (and there are a LOT of them) and every single reaction is generally positive and often very enthusiastic.

aside from the fact that logically and statistically it's impossible for someone to like every title track being released, even if they're all objectively good (which they're not), because no one likes every genre and every style of music, there is basically no creativity involved in creating this type of content which makes it very dull both for the creator and the consumer after a while.

on top of that, this type of content has created a really toxic environment around expressing opinions and criticism toward kpop groups and kpop music. I just came across a video from one of these bigger (while also being newer) creators talking about how she's not happy with the content she's been making for the past year. she said that it's extremely overwhelming trying to keep up with every comeback when everyone expects you to react to their fave's CB and after a while sitting and reacting to music videos becomes repetitive especially when you're not even allowed to truly be yourself and express your opinions. she said she can't even talk about having a bias in a group because she would get tons of hate comments and dms about ppl bashing her for not having a different bias. I can't imagine how people would react to a reaction video creator saying she doesn't like a comeback or even a certain element in the song/mv.

I used to love kpop reaction videos back when I had just discovered them and they were not as big. like I genuinely get the appeal. seeing someone who's not a teenage girl (which is what stereotypically the general public thinks kpop stans are) is pretty validating. and back then there were like 'vocal coach reacts' or 'producer reacts' etc. seeing the reaction of "experts" analyzing different parts of a song/mv was really interesting for someone like me with zero knowledge of any of the technical stuff. and I also understand that they do contribute to promoting groups and comebacks to a certain degree. but it has just gone too far, in my opinion.

idk maybe I’ve just gotten old and lost the will to enjoy the small things that used to bring me joy but I genuinely don't enjoy reaction videos anymore. most of those older 'exerpts' (except for two I think) aren't active anymore (I'm guessing at least to some degree bc stans didn't want to hear that their fave was not that legendary of a vocalist or their fave song wasn't as layered and complex as they thought it was) and instead there are just random people reacting to kpop and some of them you can just tell that all their reactions are completely faked out. Youtubers are jumping on this trend bc it’s easy (in terms of not having any kind of real substance) and gets u good views if you’re a little charming and funny.

TL;DR : everything is fake and authenticity is dead. kdjfdjf I'm mostly joking but in the end, as per usual with my rants of this kind, I don't have a specific point or a solution. I'm just starting a conversation. so if any of you have something to add or just want to chat about this send me an ask!! (plz don't reply in the comments because I want this to be on my dash so everyone else can read too.)

[milfygerard]

Where did you get four months? They were very much together at the Grammys right before her tour started.

Not Physically! And not seen at a party with her! If you look a the pr removed timeline (multiple breakup/falling apart songs recorded for and then cut from/bonus tracked for midnights esp YLM hits different and dear reader, the lover house packed up/burning imagery in the visuals that likely took at least over a month if not more time to create considering the complexity of the tour, the end of the Lavender Haze and Bejeweled MVs implying a breakup as well as the Karma vid that was likely filmed pre-tour around jan-feb which includes a visual reference to the breakup, the fact songs from TTPD was being worked on before midnights was even released) It's far more likely they broke up at an unconfirmed time likely before or around the release of Midnights, possibly earlier considering how private they were as a couple.

I also want to note that if this is the case, i am not at all begrudging taylor for this. I fully think that keeping the breakup under wraps until the eras tour was about a month in progress, allowing for the tour (and midnights as an album) to stand separate from personal strife or potential PR drama, as well as giving her time to grieve and at least start to recover. I'm not always a fan of her PR and her death grip on the narrative but in this case it was necessary for her to not just for her sanity's sake but also for her art and her career. PR work and creating relationship narratives is just another part of her job and her art, it doesnt make her "fake" or anything it just makes her an image conscious celebrity which she has always been.

Unless Taylor or some reliable source close to the situation releases a tell all with exact names and dates, we'll likely never know, but I think its important to take Taylor at her word that she is artistically a narrative builder and professionally a shrewd marketer, and that her public persona and its story is as much apart of that as her writing and songs.

[teleportationmagic]

Continuation of this post about reverse Batgirl ft. Babara.

Cassandra's the first one to run into Babs.

It's been a few years - they've gone through a few more Robins. Bruce picked Jason up off the street, Tim dropped Robin for a second, Jason took it up. Jason died. Tim picked it back up again. There was a memorial to a dead boy in the Batcave, before he came back. Hoodie was on the streets again, no matter how much Bruce resents it.

The way she runs into her is... unorganized. She's launched by a creature straight into the side of a townhouse and flips so that her legs frame the redheaded teenager instead of making contact, before launching herself back into the fight and wrestling the thing to the ground. She leaves it tied up, and intends to make a quick visual check before moving on to the other three creatures that are rampaging through Gotham (Joker did a Thing) (Don't ask) when Barbara sticks out her neck and tells her to stop. Asks if she has a plan - asks if she knows where they are.

That is a negative. The situation is quickly evolving, and its all hands on deck. Barbara offers to help - she'll moniter Twitter and TikTok, see if she can give Cassandra any information that'll be useful. She even has access to the police networks - she can really help her out!

Bruce, through Cassandra's ear, is very much against this. But Barbara will stay in her home (which, while uninsulated (anymore), is not actually unsafe) (well, any more unsafe than the rest of Gotham) so she gives her a comm (That's not why I gave you extras, Batgirl!) (You said if I lose them. Lost one.) and heads out to fight giants. Barbara guides her through the city, taking her from stop to stop - she doesn't just keep social media open, but instead she surfs through city plans and sewer routes. Cassandra follows her directions - sweeping up and down Gotham. Barbara knows, by the end of it, that her contributions helped. Significantly.

She asks if she can stay on full time. Not as a vigilante, no, but just as a helper, someone to collate all the information they needed, to point Batgirl in the right direction.

Cass is hesitant. Bruce is hesitant. Steph wants to meet her first, but is also hesitant.

It doesn't help that, during their next mission, it turns out that Barbara had patched herself into their comms network through the one they gave her. She's picked up a codename in the meantime - Oracle.

It's Duke who ultimately argues her in. It's clear she won't stop - hell, which one of them actually stopped when they were told? And while Steph has complicated feelings about this, but she can't quite argue that he's wrong. (Jason also has complicated feelings about this! But he outwardly, he comes down hard on Let Her In, Actually) (Tim and Damian are on side I-haven't-met-her-yet)

Moreover, he continues, she's not actually in danger physically. In terms of new vigilantes, she's relatively safe, all things considered.

So Oracle is pulled into the fold. A lot of her work in the beginning is done out of her laptop, but as time passes (and she gets better and better at what she's doing) it evolves into more complicated stuff - actual hacking and archival stuff.

Cassandra, on the other hand, is growing up. She's been Batgirl for eight years, now. Damian and Duke change their suits, but Cassandra just adjusts hers for height. And now she is a mentor, to a girl older than when she picked this suit up.

"Maybe." Steph reflects. "Your just getting old. In general. Midlife crisis time."

"Older." She replies, tapping her on the shoulder. "Anciiiiiiient."

"Rude, so rude."

Batgirl was important to her, undoubtedly so. But it belonged to Gotham, and to Bludhaven. Cassandra had stayed there for so long, had based herself in those cities. She remembers, being younger. In the year between Cain and Bruce, travelling the world, and helping, where she could. And she helped here, she really did, but. But.

Barbara stays as Cass's main support, but eventually she starts helping out with the Robin contingent. It's Cass who teaches her the fundamentals of self defence - defence being the operative word there. She builds up her skillset so she can run away, instead of the more offensively focused approaches of everyone else. And while Barbara works with Jason, Tim, Damian and Duke, even, occasionally, she's always most used to working with Cass.

(Steph is taking this well! Steph is taking this like an adult, who knows her position in whatever this is is secure! She is not jealous of the proficiency of a teenager! Shut up Damian!)

But the thing is not everyone is Cass. And Barbara makes a bad call - sends Hoodie into a situation he wasn't ready for, and while he made it out alive it was by the skin of his teeth, with a week's worth of rest in the Batcave.

Cass tries to explain to her that it's not the end of the world. That everyone's alright, that people lived. It's a visceral experience, for her - arguing down to a girl who believes unshakingly that this is her fault. That nothing can change that, redeem that. It's Steph, in the end, who can wheel herself into Commissioner Gordon's home and share that same experience - of not knowing. Of miscalculating. Of doing better, next time.

It's to the both of them that Barbara argues that she should be able to do fieldwork. Not forever - she doesn't want forever. But. If she has experience, if she knows what it's like for the rest of them on the ground, maybe this wouldn't have happened. Maybe she can keep herself from making this mistake again.

Cassandra points out that she'd onboarded under certain conditions. Barbara pointed out how much the rest of them risk their lives anyways, how they'd started much younger then she was. Stephanie taps the metal of her chair once. Twice.

She tells her how she lost her legs. That could happen to her too. Think on it.

They give her three days. In the meanwhile, Cassandra thinks as well. About Batgirl. About America. About the League base she'd found when she went to fight her mother, about the dead men left there.

People needed help. Gotham and Bludhaven, they had people and she'd learned the investigative skills she needed to help, on her own. And Barbara needs the legitimacy, the confidence. A mark of her confidence.

She discusses it with Stephanie. Stephanie brings up that Barbara might choose to do the sensible thing, actually, and Cass replies with a single upturned eyebrow.

She doesn't. And Batgirl is passed down again. Cass puts together another costume.

She won't leave. Not just yet, but she knows she will. When she brings it up to Bruce he maps out his own route, when he was new to this, working through Asia and Europe and Africa, picking up mentors and teachers who gave him the skills he needed. Maybe she'll learn something too. Something irreplaceable.

In the meanwhile, it becomes clear pretty soon that Babara's absence from the comms presents its own problems. Stephanie cracks her fingers, and decides to take the task up. Learning is a slow process - she predates the internet just enough for it to be slower, unweildy - but they trade. Old combat experience for tech experience, mixed in with social engineering. Barbara spent years cracking passwords through finding vulnerabilities in the code, whereas Stephanie shows her how to make the right phone call.

(Something else that is becoming clear is that Batman is getting older. He's not been a young man, by the time Cassandra had joined him, and he was getting no younger. There was time for a successor.)

(They just hadn't meant for it to be this soon - )

Bruce dies. Tim goes looking for him, leaving Robin behind, Jason following close. Duke, Damian, and Cassandra gather in the Batcave to decide upon a legacy. (Steph wants to tell them to roll dice for it.) It's not about pride, except in the ways it is - Duke as the most of experienced of them, Damian having known Batman alone and Cass as the one who'd worked under him the longest. There are objective metrics they could use for this, but it's not an objective contest.

"Trade it." Steph suggests, after a half hour of deliberation. "We still need Nightwing and Signal, and whatever Cass wants to take up now. Set up a rotating schedule, until you figure out the best fit."

"It'll be noticeable." Damian hisses, but it's a contemplative hiss.

"He did this alone, didn't he?" Cassandra points at each one of them and he inclines his head. "Yeah, but still. He thought that Batman had to be alone, that it was his to bear."

"It can be ours." Cass says, the simplicity feeling like a bell. Her eyes dart from brother to brother, something like certainty settling in the room. "All of ours."

There is also the matter of the child leaping through Gotham city, trying to avenge his parents. The ache of it brings Damian to his knees. The fifth Robin flies next to Batman, Batgirl on their side.

Robin and Batgirl start the beginning of something, slow and fumbling. That's a first, Stephanie remarks, and there's agreement across the board there.

Dick is Damian's robin, and Duke's, and Cass's. Barbara is Cass's Batgirl, and Steph's and Dick's. Tim and Jason send messages, from time to time - progress reports and stories. Damian has half a conniption when he hears that they're going up against the league.

Barbara partners with a bunch of other Gotham vigilantes - the Birds of Prey. Steph organizes them from her position in the Batcave, running comms and tracking movements. Barbara is by far the youngest of them, but her presence is appreciated, nevertheless. Dinah toys with taking her on as an apprentice.

Bruce comes back. Jason and Tim piece it together, and the pull on him, stumbling back into the present. Batman takes to the skies again - going from three keepers to two.

Then to one. Saying goodbye to Gotham hurts, when Cass leaves - but she leaves with a promise to come back, a kiss on the cheek for Stephanie, a hug for Bruce and Duke.

Barbara gives her a comm as she leaves. Takes a promise that she would keep it, no matter what. And that's a promise Cassandra keeps - voices of Batgirls old and new echoing through it.

[yuridovewing]

Wait why are we mad at Moonkitti for “infantilizating” Squirrelflight by drawing her small with big eyes and a big head? first of all small squilf is a common headcanon that people engaged in before her video, second of all its Moonkitti… most of the cats have big eyes and big heads in her vids…. cause she has a cutesy artstyle…. I’m sorry but that’s kinda dumb

[godsfavoritescientist]

Tbh? I still feel so out of my depth whenever I try to write Bill. For whatever reason it doesn't come naturally to me like writing Ford does. Every time one of y'all has thoughts on Bill's characterization or writes something Bill-centric I'm mentally taking so many notes

[viiridiangreen]

also i turned 26 today and it was mostly just like. A Thursday. Got to work from home tho if i had to come into the office on my birthday i would've.............. prolly not done anything drastic but i wouldn't have liked that at all lol

pros: we ordered some Special Cookies (if u haven't tried alfajores u r Missing Out), hung out w partner, & their family sent nice messages. finally dipped my toes into franchise mode in planet zoo (so not following a set Theme but starting my own park from scratch with a Likely Overambitious habitat for Spectacled Caimans with an underwater viewing gallery. it's gonna be rad if i can avoid running out of money hhhh. i'll post pics when i've added foliage / rockwork / the actual critters lol) & we're about to do this week's destiny story update thing rn.

cons: my family was A Bit Weird abt it esp my aunt on my mom's side like she typed a whole thing in whatsapp which started with "I think about you almost every day" and then she deleted it when i didn't look at it within a few hours haha.

[rimouskis]

okay I've decided against pursuing any sort of diagnosis re: my growing suspicions I have ADHD/something of that ilk for a variety of reasons, but it will NEVER stop galling me how I lack object permanence. like a baby. I need to have clear storage containers because if I cannot see something I forget it exists. it's both a relief to know that there is a potential "explanation" for such behavior but also realizing that most other people can do convenient things (like: remembering the existence of stuff) is also FRUSTRATINGGGG because I wish that was me! imagine being able to remember things not only casually but well! imagine that! god!

[britneyshakespeare]

It seems hard to me when I look at her sometimes, and think how many without one tithe of her genius or greatness of spirit have granted them abundant health and opportunity to labour through the little they can do or will do, while perhaps her soul is never to bloom nor her bright hair to fade, but after hardly escaping from degradation and corruption, all she might have been must sink out again unprofitably in that dark house where she was born. How truly she may say, 'No man may care for my soul.' I do not mean to make myself an exception, for how long I have known her, and not thought of this till so late—perhaps too late. But it is no use writing more about this subject; and I fear, too, my writing at all about it must prevent your easily believing it to be, as it is, by far the nearest thing to my own heart.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti writing of Lizzie Siddal's health in a letter dated 23 July, 1854

[chamerionwrites]

Most of the time I am probably too accommodating and hate conflict to a fault but occasionally the Zero Fucks Left version of me emerges, and I'm fairly sure 99% of people who have witnessed it find it Jekyll-and-Hyde unsettling.

Which is almost certainly a character flaw on my part! But I don't entirely know what to do about it, because I'm pretty sure it's the "too accommodating" part that's the character flaw and while I've been working on that half my life, and honestly gotten much better at it, that isn't the half of the equation that people are freaked out by.

[toastsnaffler]

actually ive been thinking abt this a lot lately like basically for years i assumed i was very (cis)het passing and only recently ive become aware that i am in fact. very obviously perhaps almost comically gay to other queer ppl. like lmaoooo ok then

[age-of-moonknight]

Daredevil (Vol. 5/2016), #602.

Writer: Charles Soule: Penciler and Inker: Mike Henderson; Colorist: Matt Milla; Letterer: Clayton Cowles

[unproduciblesmackdown]

ideal scenario is that i like thinking about this like, essential short story adventure where winston and tuk hook up w/a couple [that bachelorette party] members, and as a foursome/quartet because they have these parallel stories of two pairs of friends who are like "sure i'd have sex with you if things aligned for that" and now are living that short story about expanding a dynamic & becoming closer friends for the end of it (of course billions only wrote winston as standing next to tuk next episode, instead of rian as he's often written to be standing with incl in a previous finale, to shove him out of the path of getting material and let taylor have confusing nonresolution w/rian based on this proximity and coincidence instead. but who can't say that that, And winston next not even trying to sit with tmc in the last finale appearance which at this point is probably for the best and instead again hanging out with tuk and then ben, isn't about having been closer for whatever all happened there in obtaining casual sex together)

and they can have perpendicular stories of also just having some nice chats and enjoying other interactions together such that maybe it's just fun for this one night of crossing paths, maybe anyone stays in touch at all, who even knows, if winston or tuk are dating anyone it's probably only going to come up again in how they were last dumped for being too much effort for how unepic they are, so godspeed to offscreen unmentioned dating. but just friendly acquaintanceship, or again this one-time spontaneously crossed paths night's acquaintanceship, is also a lot of fun. and why not imagine that winston "he's not allowed to not feel self-loathing or, by doing basic things like talking or initiating Or oppositng anything, Not operating as though he's too low in a social hierarchy here to be allowed thusly" type of material where his spontaneity, vivacity to bon vivantocity, self-assurance that is apparently arrogance/aggression to every who thinks he ought to be self-effacing instead, etc, is actually just a social success in other less wretched non-work situations, and his personality is taken as a contribution to the proceedings even before anyone takes up his proffered contribution of himself as a potential sexual partner. and lending confidence to tuk as like one person who won't, at any given time, go into hostile mode with him or even like take up the position of issuing this criticism, which is an inherently elevated (over tuk) one when it's a unilateral thing. such that tuk's personality can be a potential contribution as well. and winston and tuk's Friendship Developing Moments can be happening then, too, b/c Maybe they've hung out outside work on their own aleady, but also maybe they've never really been interacting with a larger group outside work, such that that group is less likely to include some people, or entirely people, who will suddenly go sicko mode on either or both of them. and then meanwhile, who knows anything abt this bachelorette party, could be already a cohesive friend group who all see each other all the time, or people who see each other more infrequently meeting up on this trip, or a mix; could be fun and chill or something so scheduled/demanding it's kind of like a work trip, or fluctuate....and of course zero info abt the individuals such that imagining anything abt them is entire OC territory, and i'm bad at that, or at coming up with stories, so not exactly a lot of details here from me but godspeed if two of them unlock another tier of friendship here b/c like parallel to winston and tuk, they're like hmm okay so we're mutually down re: potentially having a foursome here, and spending some time away from the larger group

(or of course the scenario that tuk and winston can also have that moment but just as putting "and/or: a threesome?" as an option, and that tips the scales for someone who might've otherwise felt more indecisive like "hmmmm casual convenient hookup, or spending more time out & about like this / whatever other activity...." but then is like oho Well, if it's a threesome, i'll seize that opportunity, sure....such that then maybe afterwards [winston and tuk hanging out together] happens sooner, if the third member feels more third wheel about things lol, since now they'd be the only two who already know each other. like ooh who knows, round n+1 in the aftermath just one on one (and/or i mean, maybe another thing the third party's still around for, re: further casual sex opportunities that don't just fall into your lap every day), and/or talk, watch tron together, go back out on the town even. where the conclusion of this truly is the essence of "it Is easy to imagine that winston and tuk are real Genuine Friends for the implicit further offscreen time spent together outside work / interactions between them here. and fun" and with that flair of "and give that a juxtaposed parallel in it being the same for a couple bachelorette attendees, why not, good for them"